| 1968 AFL season | |
|---|---|
| Regular season | |
| Duration | September 6 – December 15, 1968 |
| Playoffs | |
| Date | December 29, 1968 |
| Eastern champion | New York Jets |
| Western champion | Oakland Raiders |
| Site | Shea Stadium, New York City |
| Champion | New York Jets |
The1968 AFL season was the ninthregular season of theAmerican Football League, and its penultimate season prior to theAFL–NFL merger.
The season ended when theNew York Jets (11–3) defeated theOakland Raiders (12–2) in theAFL championship game on December 29 atShea Stadium in New York City. Two weeks later, the Jets defeated theNational Football League'sBaltimore Colts inSuper Bowl III in one of the biggest sports upsets in history.
The season was also notable as the inaugural season of the Cincinnati Bengals, which expanded the AFL to ten teams.
In anticipation of the merger, all AFL on-field officials wore uniforms similar to those used in the NFL.
With the addition of theCincinnati Bengals, the AFL's ten teams were split equally into two divisions. Each played a home-and-away game against the other four teams in its division, one game against each of the five teams in the opposite division, and a second game against one of the other division's teams.
As with the previous eight seasons, the best record in the Eastern Division played the best in the Western Division in the AFL championship game, with the site alternating between the divisions; the Eastern division hosted in even-numbered years. If there was tie at the top of either division standings (as happened when Oakland andKansas City both finished at 12–2), a one-game playoff was held to determine the division winner. The Jets, with the third-best record in the league in 1968, had a week off and hosted the title game.
| Week | Eastern | Record | Western | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston | 1–0–0 | Tie (KC, SD) | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | Tie (Bos, NYJ) | 1–0–0 | Tie (Oak, SD) | 1–0–0 |
| 3 | N.Y. Jets | 2–0–0 | Tie (Oak, SD) | 2–0–0 |
| 4 | Tie (Bos, NY) | 2–1–0 | Oakland | 3–0–0 |
| 5 | N.Y. Jets | 3–1–0 | Oakland | 4–0–0 |
| 6 | N.Y. Jets | 3–2–0 | Kansas City | 5–1–0 |
| 7 | N.Y. Jets | 4–2–0 | Kansas City | 6–1–0 |
| 8 | N.Y. Jets | 5–2–0 | Kansas City | 7–1–0 |
| 9 | N.Y. Jets | 6–2–0 | Kansas City | 7–2–0 |
| 10 | N.Y. Jets | 7–2–0 | Kansas City | 8–2–0 |
| 11 | N.Y. Jets | 7–3–0 | Kansas City | 9–2–0 |
| 12 | N.Y. Jets | 8–3–0 | Tie (KC, Oak) | 9–2–0 |
| 13 | N.Y. Jets | 9–3–0 | Tie (KC, Oak) | 10–2–0 |
| 14 | N.Y. Jets | 10–3–0 | Tie (KC, Oak) | 11–2–0 |
| 15 | N.Y. Jets | 11–3–0 | (tie) Kansas City | 12–2–0 |
| Oakland | 12–2–0 |
TheCincinnati Bengals joined the league as an expansion team.
| Home/Road | Eastern Division | Western Division | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOS | BUF | HOU | MIA | NY | CIN | DEN | KC | OAK | SD | ||
| Eastern | Boston Patriots | 23–6 | 0–16 | 10–34 | 31–47* | 33–14 | 14–35 | 17–27 | |||
| Buffalo Bills | 7–16 | 7–30 | 17–21 | 37–35 | 7–18 | 6–48 | 6–21 | ||||
| Houston Oilers | 45–17 | 35–6 | 7–24 | 14–20 | 38–17 | 21–26 | 15–24 | ||||
| Miami Dolphins | 38–7 | 14–14 | 10–24 | 7–31 | 21–38 | 3–48 | 21–47 | ||||
| New York Jets | 48–14 | 25–21 | 26–7 | 35–17 | 27–14 | 13–21 | 23–20 | ||||
| Western | Cincinnati Bengals | 34–23 | 17–27 | 22–24 | 24–10 | 9–16 | 0–34 | 10–31 | |||
| Denver Broncos | 17–20 | 34–32 | 21–14 | 10–7 | 7–30 | 7–43 | 23–47 | ||||
| Kansas City Chiefs | 31–17 | 24–10 | 19–20 | 13–3 | 34–2 | 24–10 | 27–20 | ||||
| Oakland Raiders | 41–10 | 13–10 | 43–32 | 31–10 | 33–27 | 38–21 | 14–23 | ||||
| San Diego Chargers | 30–14 | 34–28 | 15–37 | 29–13 | 55–24 | 3–40 | 27–34 | ||||
(*) Played atLegion Field,Birmingham, Alabama sinceBoston Red Sox refused to rentFenway Park to Patriots.
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL. |
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| Western Division playoff December 22 | AFL Championship Game December 29 | ||||||||
| E | atNew York Jets | 27 | |||||||
| W | Kansas City Chiefs | 6 | W | Oakland Raiders | 23 | ||||
| W | atOakland Raiders | 41 | |||||||
In an upset, theNew York Jets, defeated theBaltimore Colts, 16–7, atOrange Bowl inMiami, on January 12, 1969.
